Construction of horse-blankets.



L. H. DI ETZ.

CONSTRUCTION OF HORSE BLANKETS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 11, 1912.

1,064,453. Patented June 10,1913.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH 70.. WASHINGTON, D. c

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FFIC.

LOUIS H. DIETZ, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CONSTRUCTION OF HORSEIBLANKET$.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 11, 1912.

Patented June 10, 1913.

Serial No. 730,585.

To all whom 2'15 may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS H. DIETZ, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in the Construction ofHorse-Blankets, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, andexact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improved construction of horse blanket havingreinforcing bands or girths secured to and extending around it, sodisposed'that the strain placed upon them by the movements of the horseupon which the blanket is secured is not communicated to the blanket,but on the other hand is taken entirely by the reinforcing strips orgirths, and further that these strips or girths are so disposed that thestrain upon them tends to hold the blanket in proper position upon thehorse at both ends of the blanket as well as at its lower edges when theblanket is in use.

The several drawings illustrating my invention are as follows:

Figure 1 shows my improved horse blanket in place upon a horse. Fig. 2is a developed or flat view of the blanket opened out to show the mannerin which the reinforcing strips or girths are secured to the blanket.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

As shown in the drawings, theblanket 1, which is of any desiredconstruction and texture which will adapt itself to the body of a horse,is provided with a first girth or reinforcing strip 2, sewed to theblanket near the front end of the blanket and extending nearly down tothe lower edges thereof. A second reinforcing strip or girth 3 issecured to the blanket in a similar way but slightly to the rear of themiddle of the blanket, the principal difference between the dispositionof this strip and the strip 2 being that the strip 2 is placed in nearlya straight line at substantially right angles to the lower edges of theblanket, while the strip 3 is given a slight curvature toward the rearend of the blanket at its upper portion, the ends of the strip extendingslightly forward toward the lower edges of the blanket. Neither thestrip 2 nor the strip 3 extends to the lower edges of the blanket. Fromthe ends of the strip 3 two straight reinforcing strips 4 and 5 extendupwardly and rearwardly, meeting at the top or upper portion of theblanket at the angle 6, said angle being near the rear end of the upperportion of the blanket. From the ends of the strip 2, slightly curvedreinforcing strips 7 and 8 extend forwardly and nearly or quite to thefront end of the blanket and somewhat farther from its lower edges thanthe ends of the strip 2. The forward ends of the strips 7 and 8 havesecured to them the strap 9 and the buckle 10, used to hold the frontportion of the blanket together around the sl1oulders of the horse. Allof the strips thus far described are securely held to the blanketpreferably by means of stitching so as to reinforce the blanket and totake all of the strains exerted by holding the blanket in place upon thehorse.

At the connection between the ends of the strips 3 and 4 a fastener 11is secured, and at the connection between the ends of the strips 2 and 7a similar fastener 12 is secured. At the connection between the ends ofthe strips 3 and 5 a band 13, having a fastening device 14, is secured.The band 13 isprovided with a sliding adjustable device 15 forincreasing or decreasing the effective length of the band 13. At theconnection between the strips 2 and 8 one end of a band 16 is secured,the other end of which passes through a fastening device 17 and issecured to a sliding device 18 for increasing or decreasing theeffective length of the band 16. The fastening devices 11, 12, 14 and 17are preferably made of metal and in any well known form so that they maycooperate, the fastening devices 12 and 14 being brought together whenthe blanket isin place upon the horse, as are the fastening devices 11and 17 An essential feature of my present invention is that when theblanket is in place upon'the horse the bands 13 and 16 and the is takenby the strips 4, 5, 7 and 8 and the bands 13 and 16. This result is onlysecured by carefully avoiding abrupt changes in direction of the variousstrips of reinforcing material, for if there were sharp angles orchanges of direction at any point in the path of the resulting girthdescribed it would result in placing a considerable strain on theblanket at the point in the change in direction. Although it would appear at first that there is such an abrupt change between the ends ofthe strips t and 5, this in reality is not so, since these strips meetontop of the horses back and, in fact, the portion of the blanket betweenthe strips at and 5 and the strip 3 constitute a pocket for receivingthe upper portion of the hip bones of the horse, as a result of whichthe strips 4 and 5 are back of these bones and thus serve to hold therear portion of the blanket down against the body of the horse andprevent it from working forward on the horses back. The strips 2 and 3,although they appear to be in position to take a considerable part ofthe strain exerted upon the crossed girth above described, in realityhave very little strain exerted upon them, their principal functionbeing to keep the body portion of the blanket in shape and also toreinforce the end connections to the blanket of the strips 4, 5, 7 and8. A further advantage secured by the girth construction above describedis that as a result of the crossing of the girth under the body of thehorse when the horse is working, the forward movement of one shouldercompensates for the forward movement of the opposite hip, and thus noundue strain is brought upon the girth and the blanket is held securelyin place, although there is considerable motion of the horse. This wouldnot be the case if the blanket were not provided with a single crossedgirth extending longitudinally of the horse, as shown and describedabove, with no substantial change in direction as it encircles theshoulders and hips of the horse.

I am aware it has been proposed heretofore to reinforce horse blanketswith strips of fabric or leather, and I do not, therefore, claim broadlysuch a construction as my invention, but what I do claim as new is theparticular arrangement of girth and reinforcing strips that is describedabove, by which the blanket is securely held in place without unduestrain upon the blanket. The reinforcing strips referred to and thefastening devices may be made in any manner desired, as long as thestrips are secured to the blanket in substantially the manner indicated.

What I claim is:

1. A horse blanket having two straight strips of reinforcing materialsecured thereto and extending from a point near the rear end of themiddle of the blanket diagonally forward to points near the edges of theblanket slightly to the rear of the middle of said edges, a reinforcingstrip secured to the blanket between the ends of the first named stripsand being slightly curved toward the rear end of the blanket, a straightreinforcing strip of material secured transversely to the blanketforward of its middle portion and extending nearly to the edges of theblanket, reinforcing strips of material extending from the ends of thelast named strip toward the front end of the blanket and being curvedslightly away from the edges of the blanket, fastening devices securedto the forward ends of the last named strips for securing the blanket inplace around the shoulders of the horse, and con necting strips andfastening devices secured to the connections of the other stripsmentioned near the edges of the blanket for securing the edges of theblanket in'place around the body of the horse, said connecting stripsbeing crossed when in place upon the horse.

2. A horse blanket having two straight strips of reinforcing materialsecured thereto and extending from a point near the rear end of themiddle of the blanket diagonally forward to points near the edges of theblanket slightly to the rear of the middle of said edges, a reinforcingstrip secured to the blanket between the ends of the first named stripsand being slightly curved toward the rear end of the blanket, a straightreinforcing strip of material secured transversely to the blanketforward of its middle portion and extending nearly to the edges of theblanket, reinforcing strips of material extending from the ends of thelast named strip toward the front end of the blanket and being curvedslightly away from the edges of the blanket, fastening devices securedto the forward ends of the last named strips for securing the blanket inplace k around the shoulders of the horse, and connecting strips andfastening devices secured to the connections of the other stripsmentioned near the edges of the blanket for securing the edges of theblanket in place around the body of the horse, said connecting stripsbeing crossed when in place upon the horse, the first three named stripsbeing life rear end of the blanket, a straight reinforcing strip ofmaterial secured transversely to the blanket forward of its middleportion and extending nearly to the edges of the blanket, reinforcingstrips of material extending from the ends of the last named striptoward the front end of the blanket and being curved slightly away fromthe edges of the blanket, fastening devices secured to the forward endsof the last named strips for securing the blanket in place around theshoulders of the horse, and connecting strips and fastening devicessecured to the connections of the other strips mentioned near the edgesof the blanket for securing the edges of the blanket in place around thebody of the horse, said connecting strips being crossed when in placeupon the horse, the first two named strips and the last two named stripsconstituting, together with the connecting strips, when in place uponthe horse, a single, continuous girth crossing under the body of thehorse and having no abrupt change in direction throughout.

4. A horse blanket having two straight strips of reinforcing materialsecured thereto and extending from a point near the rear end of themiddle of the blanket diagonally forward to points near the edges of theblanket slightly to the rear of the middle of said edges, reinforcingstrips of material extending obliquely from the front end of the blankettoward its side edges and being curved slightly away from the edges ofthe blanket, fastening devices secured to the forward ends of the lastnamed strips for securing the blanket in place around the shoulders ofthe horse, and connecting strips and fastening devices secured to thesaid reinforcing strips near the side edges of the blanket for securingthe edges of the blanket in place around the body of the horse, saidconnecting strips being crossed when in place upon the horse, the saidreinforcing strips constituting, together with the connecting strips,when in place upon the horse, a single, continuous girth crossing underthe body of the horse and having no abrupt change in directionthroughout.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 7th day ofNovember, A. D. 1912.

LOUIS H. DIETZ.

Witnesses:

ALBERT C. BELL, LESLIE W. FRIOKE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

